"--John.
"That they should seek God, If haply they might feel after him,
though he is not far from each one of us."--Paul.
"Other sheep have I which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and they shall become one
flock, one shepherd"--Jesus.
CHAPTER XII - TWO CENTURIES OF SILENCE
The Japanese Shut In.
Sincerely regretting that we cannot pass more favorable judgments upon
the Christianity of the seventeenth century in Japan, let us look into
the two centuries of silence, and see what was the story between the
paling of the Christian record in 1637, and the glowing of the
palimpsest in 1859, when the new era begins.
The policy of the Japanese rulers, after the supposed utter extirpation
of Christianity, was the double one of exclusion and inclusion. A
deliberate attempt, long persisted in and for centuries apparently
successful, was made to insulate Japan from the shock of change. The
purpose was to draw a whole nation and people away from the currents and
movements of humanity, and to stereotype national thought and custom.
This was carried out in two ways: first, by exclusion, and then by
inclusion. All foreign influences were shut off, or reduced to a
minimum.
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